Villanova senior Kris Jenkins has some fun with Mikal Bridges at the end of a practice session at the Pavilion earlier this month.
PETE BANNAN — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA

RADNOR >> The Big East Conference needed a marquee program after the seismic split reformed the league into a basketball-centric conference in 2013.

If the Big East was going to remain a player on the national stage, one program had to step forward to be the face of the league.

At the time, Villanova did not appear to be a team the Big East could hang its reputation on. The Wildcats were coming off a 20-14 season in which they had been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the first round and were just one year removed from a season in which they went 13-19 and set a program record for losses.

As fate would have it, though, that’s the same time Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins and Darryl Reynolds arrived on the Villanova campus. They weren’t recruited to be the saviors of the Villanova program or the Big East Conference, but when teamed with the likes of James Bell, Tony Chennault, Darrun Hilliard, JayVaughn Pinkston, Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu, that’s exactly what they turned out to be.

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Four years later, Villanova is the unquestioned face of the Big East, and Hart, Jenkins and Reynolds are among the league’s most recognizable players.

“I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how well that Kris and Josh and Darryl, what great ambassadors they’ve been for the Big East Conference,” Creighton coach Doug McDermott said after Villanova’s 74-60 victory over the Bluejays in the Big East Tournament championship game Saturday night. “And the Villanova program in general, for a basketball purist like myself, the way they won it last year, team basketball, and just the way they carry themselves.

“And it starts at the top with Jay (Wright), obviously, but that senior class, what they’ve accomplished, is incredible. And it makes the rest of us — and I think I speak for the other coaches in the Big East — when we watch what they did last year and how they’ve backed it up this year, it makes you proud to be part of this league because the team that’s kind of been our shining star does it the right way. And they represent the game of basketball and our league in a very professional way. And it’s been — it’s hard to play against, but it’s also fun to sit back and watch and enjoy.”

n 128 wins, and counting, the most in program history.

n An 88.8 winning percentage over four years, again the best ever.

n Four straight outright Big East regular-season championships, the first class in conference history to accomplish that feat.

n Two Big East Tournament titles and three straight trips to the tournament final.

n A 63-9 record in conference play with one game to go. Again, that’s the best mark over a four-year span in conference history.

n Four consecutive outright Big 5 titles, the most in City Series history. Hart, Jenkins and Reynolds went undefeated (16-0) in Big 5 play.

n A school-record 48-game winning streak at the Pavilion and a 49-1 record in games played on campus, and a 60-3 record at home overall.

n They are the only class to win 30 games in three consecutive seasons in Villanova history.

n Hart, Jenkins and Reynolds have never lost back-to-back games, a string of 140 straight games dating back to the end of the 2012-13 season.

And then there was that little trophy they brought home last April from Houston, which is on permanent display in the trophy case in the vestibule of the Davis Center, the team’s practice facility.

Their individual accomplishments are equally impressive, especially Hart. The 6-5 senior was the Big East Player of the Year, co-Defensive Player of the Year with teammate Mikal Bridges and Creighton’s Khyri Thomas, and a two-time first-team All-Big East selection. He also is a finalist for the Naismith and Julius Erving awards, given annually to the national player of the year and the top small forward in the country.

Hart is the only player in program history with 1,800 points, 800 rebounds, 250 assists and 150 steals in a career. As far as scoring classmates go, Hart and Jenkins rank ninth in school history with 3,261 combined career points.

Jenkins, of course, hit the biggest shot in NCAA Tournament history.

And while others have marveled at what the Wildcats have done, particularly Hart, Jenkins, and Reynolds, the trio has played down their accomplishments.

“I’m not thinking about that now,” Hart said after the Big East Tournament championship game. “I’ve got one month left in my college basketball career.”

That’s all Hart, Jenkins and Reynolds have on their minds. They have a chance to do something really special: Be just the third team since the NCAA Tournament field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985 to win back-to-back titles. Duke (1992 and 1993) and Florida (2007 and 2008) are the only other teams to accomplish that feat.

Regardless of what happens, though, it is an impressive resume, one that not only boosted a program, but a conference, too.

”If I’ve got to lose in the Big East Tournament, and I hate to lose, but there’s not -- I have enjoyed Kris Jenkins and Josh Hart develop as young men,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said after Villanova’s 55-53 victory over the Pirates in the semifinals. “They represent this league at the highest level. They play the game tremendously. And I couldn’t have more respect for Josh and Kris for the way they represented not only Villanova but the way they represented the Big East throughout their career, just shows you what a great program Jay has.”